Bangladesh Finally Agrees To Give Shelter To Thousands Of Rohingyas Fleeing Violence In Myanmar
Aid agencies have been overwhelmed by the influx of Rohingya, many of whom are arriving hungry and traumatized after walking days through jungles or packing into rickety wooden boats in search of safety in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has finally agreed to free land for a new camp to shelter hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled Myanmar in a recent spate of violence. The new camp will ease some pressure on existing settlements on the Bangladesh border near the Cox¡¯s Bazar district where as many as 3,13,000 refugees have arrived since August 25, as per a recent report by the United Nations.
Reuters/Representational Image
"The two refugees camps we are in are beyond overcrowded," said UN refugee agency spokeswoman Vivian Tan. Other new arrivals were being sheltered in schools or were huddling in makeshift settlements with no toilets along roadsides and in open fields. Basic resources were scarce, including food, clean water and medical aid.
Still, more refugees were arriving. An Associated Press reporter witnessed hundreds streaming through the border at Shah Puri Dwip on Monday.
AFP
"Tomorrow we are expecting an airlift of relief supplies for 20,000 people," Tan said. PM Sheikh Hasina offered 810 hectares near the existing camp of Kutupalong, "To build temporary shelters for the Rohingya newcomers," according to a Facebook post today by Mohammed Shahriar Alam, a junior minister for foreign affairs.
He also said the government would begin fingerprinting and registering the new arrivals on Monday. Hasina is scheduled to visit Rohingya refugees on Tuesday.
Aid agencies have been overwhelmed by the influx of Rohingya, many of whom are arriving hungry and traumatized after walking days through jungles or packing into rickety wooden boats in search of safety in Bangladesh.
